Marco Simoncelli was the most talented of the new generation of Italian riders competing in the Road Racing World Championship. He was the motorcyclist most likely to be able to inherit Valentino Rossi’s legacy. He enjoyed a precocious career as it is in the style of all the champions from Romagna . He won the 250 cc World Championship in 2008 which, together with the nickname “Super Sic” made him a well-established name way before moving up to premier class racing for the MotoGP championship.

The rest came with his look, starting with the big hair which he unfathomably managed to hold inside the helmet. It all seemed to point towards a brilliant career for a racing rider who, compared to the others, was incredibly tall and perhaps slightly awkward-looking flattened behind the windscreen of his Honda. He still needed to sober up from the exhilaration of his first victory. He finished in second place at the last Australian Grand Prix. Success was right there within reach, and he knew that.

And fully aware were also his team manager Fausto Gresini and the Honda Racing Corporation big boss, Shuhei Nakamoto. It was very clear to the other top-riders and that’s perhaps why, despite him being equally tough and arrogant on the track as well as incredibly kind-heartened and friendly off-duty, they had been particularly harsh to him. Now it will no longer be possible for Simoncelli to stand on the highest position of the podium but one thing is certain: his has definitely already earned his place in the history of motorcycling.